Wrote this thing about 2 months back. held this back due to IP issues. I mean it was his assignment which was outsourced to me. Gosh I have been into this shit before joining the software industry. Ok Now the product releases…
This is nice stuff. One of my friends got this assignment. Thought that I would give it a try too. This was something about making up a story using six keywords,
The keywords were,
Merger, Court, Specimen, Jungle, Corrupt, Train, Code.
Thought first about a fantasy plot but then shifted to a Oil economy based masala sorts story. Have a look.
/*
* Story Starts
*/
Vincent is just waking up. He doesn’t know when he did go to sleep though. The surroundings feel more than surreal to him. As if he was in a Jungle it seems. Infact he was in one.
He didn’t remember what he was doing last time round. Though the trauma and the pain is too much to think about anything else. He gets up and sits on a heavy corner stone. He has nothing nearby no person, no animal (that’s what he fears now maybe). Suddenly he gazes on the bag nearby.
The contents with due respect are to be looked at. But all broken he doesn’t have the courage to see the stuff. He just hopes it carries a bottle of water.
The bottle is there half empty as his mind right now. No place to go it has hid it self in a deeper jungle it seems and it would be a difficult code to cracked. He sits there gulping the water and pondering over what had happened.
Lolita was quite a cool headed chick in her high school days. Though a law degree meant that the head was forever to be burnished in a court fighting merger battles with her clients. As her firm mostly managed merger and share market deals. Though today was no different from other days the streets of Frankfurt were visibly different to her. She could sense something but as always she had that peculiar feeling.
Salim was a migrant working with the British Rail. He came to this country some 30 years ago with a dream to do something. After working with oil giants Mexaco he had changed his job to British Rail after there London office shifted bases. His job Profile quite simply to clean train toilets. He hoped he had a better job a family but still couldn’t help it. He still to realize the fortunes beckoning upon him are too near. <!– D(["mb","
Downnin the South American forests still Vincent wanders. He has to get outnbut before that he wants to know what happened. Vincent is troubled bynthe fact the Venezuelan authorities would make his life a hell when hengets out. Marred by corruptnpoliticians and bureaucracy the country’s oil fields recently had anstrike. And that’s what brought Vincent all the way from Paris to here.nAs an energy analyst working in Geneva he was always driven by the oilnindustry and turbulence involved in it. His mission in Venezuela was tonsend back to details of the strike and analyze the plans of Mexaconcorp. residing in Frankfurt that had plans of expanding in Venezuelanoil fields.
Actually Mexaco corp. had that nagging feeling thatnthey wouldn’t make through. So they tried to enter the Venezuelan Oilnfirms through mergers and takeovers of small firms. And that’s whatnLolita’s firm was looking at. Lolita was handed this high profile case.nAnd during investigation she met Analyst hired by Mexaco Vincent.
Anbusiness meeting ended up on Bed the next day. Through therenrelationships earlier both had been relatively unsuccessful. So thisnone too rather scripted on a cold base. Though for Lolita this was annice change from the regular German boys much more open.
Somewherenaround this time in London Salim ends up another day cleaning toiletsnof the train. Needless to say there has been nothing new in his lifenfor the past so many years. Though at Mexaco he had a great timenbecause the food was given to him for free. That saved him a lot ofnmoney. Here cleaning specimen of human waste he had rather being borednand with no one to talk to life ends up eating you. Salim though had anunique habit of collecting a piece of garbage daily. I mean whichevernone he liked from the lot. He had a range of them. And he had annarchival of these strange items fascinating to strike fortune out ofnfilth someday. Though down beneath he knew it was rubbish as the stuffnhe was collecting. On that night he plans to rearrange the stuff.nCleaning items going through old files.”,1] ); //–>
Down in the South American forests still Vincent wanders. He has to get out but before that he wants to know what happened. Vincent is troubled by the fact the Venezuelan authorities would make his life a hell when he gets out. Marred by corrupt politicians and bureaucracy the country’s oil fields recently had a strike. And that’s what brought Vincent all the way from Paris to here. As an energy analyst working in Geneva he was always driven by the oil industry and turbulence involved in it. His mission in Venezuela was to send back to details of the strike and analyze the plans of Mexaco corp. residing in Frankfurt that had plans of expanding in Venezuela oil fields.
Actually Mexaco corp. had that nagging feeling that they wouldn’t make through. So they tried to enter the Venezuelan Oil firms through mergers and takeovers of small firms. And that’s what Lolita’s firm was looking at. Lolita was handed this high profile case. And during investigation she met Analyst hired by Mexaco Vincent.
A business meeting ended up on Bed the next day. Through there relationships earlier both had been relatively unsuccessful. So this one too rather scripted on a cold base. Though for Lolita this was a nice change from the regular German boys much more open.
Somewhere around this time in London Salim ends up another day cleaning toilets of the train. Needless to say there has been nothing new in his life for the past so many years. Though at Mexaco he had a great time because the food was given to him for free. That saved him a lot of money. Here cleaning specimen of human waste he had rather being bored and with no one to talk to life ends up eating you. Salim though had a unique habit of collecting a piece of garbage daily. I mean whichever one he liked from the lot. He had a range of them. And he had an archival of these strange items fascinating to strike fortune out of filth someday. Though down beneath he knew it was rubbish as the stuff he was collecting. On that night he plans to rearrange the stuff. Cleaning items going through old files. <!– D(["mb","
Suddenlyncatches glimpses of a golden file. He didn’t kind of remembered when hencaught hold of it but still cherished it a lot. While opening the filenthe word "Venezuela " caught his eye and something struck him. Henstarted reading the documents.
Lolita’sntrouble was far from over after her involvement with Vincent she gotnaway from the deals Mexaco was pulling off. She was quite not into it.nSo may be she didn’t get a wind of the changes to come. Suddenly onenday Vincent got a call directing him to go to Venezuela. There had beennsome trouble with one of the mergers and the government had intervened.n
For Vincent it was a chance to sortnthem out and get good place in his position other than having a chancento see the beautiful Venezuelan girls.
Sonhe left and Lolita gets back to the case which all places for her. ThenVenezuelan stir had affected the stock prices for Mexaco and thingsnwere showing trouble. One point in her investigation though came up.nYears ago one of Venezuelans state head came to Mexaco office when itnwas in London. And met with the officials there.
Obviouslynwith oil quite a recent phenomenon there it was no good for thencompany’s authorities that time. People say he gifted some land andnstuff.
Down in his home in somenLondon suburb Salim was quite happy. He had a habit of followingneverything happening with his former company. So he read everything onnit in the newspapers. Also he had read about the troubles brewing innVenezuela.
Actually a tribe wasnoccupying the land in question. Obviously the Leftist inclination ofnthe country though with a merger was allowing but still supporting thenbrewing trouble. Salim was happy now that he can crack everything up.nAnd he saw hope for the first time in his life.
Lolitanwas in a meeting with the Mexaco’s top guns at Frankfurt. Suddenly thenmeeting was interrupted by an important announcement. A man apparentlyna sweeper wanted to meet them with reference to this issue. Everyonenwas stunned. Lolita first thought of it as a waste of time. Then thenman walked in. he was Salim.”,1] ); //–>
Suddenly catches glimpses of a golden file. He didn’t kind of remembered when he caught hold of it but still cherished it a lot. While opening the file the word “Venezuela ” caught his eye and something struck him. He started reading the documents.
Lolita’s trouble was far from over after her involvement with Vincent she got away from the deals Mexaco was pulling off. She was quite not into it. So may be she didn’t get a wind of the changes to come. Suddenly one day Vincent got a call directing him to go to Venezuela. There had been some trouble with one of the mergers and the government had intervened.
For Vincent it was a chance to sort them out and get good place in his position other than having a chance to see the beautiful Venezuelan girls.
So he left and Lolita gets back to the case which all places for her. The Venezuelan stir had affected the stock prices for Mexaco and things were showing trouble. One point in her investigation though came up. Years ago one of Venezuelans state head came to Mexaco office when it was in London. And met with the officials there.
Obviously with oil quite a recent phenomenon there it was no good for the company’s authorities that time. People say he gifted some land and stuff.
Down in his home in some London suburb Salim was quite happy. He had a habit of following everything happening with his former company. So he read everything on it in the newspapers. Also he had read about the troubles brewing in Venezuela.
Actually a tribe was occupying the land in question. Obviously the Leftist inclination of the country though with a merger was allowing but still supporting the brewing trouble. Salim was happy now that he can crack everything up. And he saw hope for the first time in his life.
Lolita was in a meeting with the Mexaco’s top guns at Frankfurt. Suddenly the meeting was interrupted by an important announcement. A man apparently a sweeper wanted to meet them with reference to this issue. Everyone was stunned. Lolita first thought of it as a waste of time. Then the man walked in. he was Salim. <!– D(["mb","
Lolitanwas stunned, as were the others. Salim with that smile of his wantedn10% stake in the oilfields and a stake at Mexaco. Add to that cashnpayment of over 500 million $. The board was stunned. He was asked tonwait. Lolita was the negotiator from Mexaco’s side.
Salimnhad come up with documents to that land written on the name of Mexaco’snsubsidiary that time. With no relevance may be someone had thrown itnaway and it was with Salim, putting him at the helm of the biggest oilndeals of modern times. Salim was not going to give it away cheap.
As they entered a room Lolita was cold. She knew it would be difficult but at the end some point Mexaco had to give up. n
Somewherennear the controversial land in Northern Venezuela Vincent was travelingnin a Jeep and suddenly some men drew close. Then it was off for a while.
Lolitanand Salim had settled the deal. Salim was to hand over the papers for anbeefy stake in the new project. Everyone was happy and some under roomnpolitics had already been played. Right after doing so someone crackedna rumor of the guy roaming around in Venezuela being responsible forneverything. Though the deal was now to be cracked still this rumor wasnenough to add to anger of the tribals there.
Vincentnwakes up in a forest now realizing he knew nothing. All tattered andnleft to be consumed by animals he had heard that these tribals nevernkilled anyone that’s the way of them punishing traitors. Poor fellow.nSomeone has to trample if someone succeeds.
Lolita was happy and has started dating a new guy now. Life moves on for some irrespective of what happens.
nSalim brought a yatch yesterday after his mansion the previous week. Cleaning shitholes is history now.
—Thats the end I suppose.
Inthink I didn’t get it right. May be the next one I can. Hope so. May benlesser charecters and a focussed plot required. Anyway this plot notnworth the short story genre. Though heard few Science Fiction shortnstories to be just 3-4 lines. Amazing. Next one using same keywords anfantasy children story…hmm possible.”,1] ); //–>
Lolita was stunned, as were the others. Salim with that smile of his wanted 10% stake in the oilfields and a stake at Mexaco. Add to that cash payment of over 500 million $. The board was stunned. He was asked to wait. Lolita was the negotiator from Mexaco’s side.
Salim had come up with documents to that land written on the name of Mexaco’s subsidiary that time. With no relevance may be someone had thrown it away and it was with Salim, putting him at the helm of the biggest oil deals of modern times. Salim was not going to give it away cheap.
As they entered a room Lolita was cold. She knew it would be difficult but at the end some point Mexaco had to give up.
Somewhere near the controversial land in Northern Venezuela Vincent was traveling in a Jeep and suddenly some men drew close. Then it was off for a while.
Lolita and Salim had settled the deal. Salim was to hand over the papers for a beefy stake in the new project. Everyone was happy and some under room politics had already been played. Right after doing so someone cracked a rumor of the guy roaming around in Venezuela being responsible for everything. Though the deal was now to be cracked still this rumor was enough to add to anger of the tribals there.
Vincent wakes up in a forest now realizing he knew nothing. All tattered and left to be consumed by animals he had heard that these tribals never killed anyone that’s the way of them punishing traitors. Poor fellow. Someone has to trample if someone succeeds.
Lolita was happy and has started dating a new guy now. Life moves on for some irrespective of what happens.
Salim brought a yatch yesterday after his mansion the previous week. Cleaning shitholes is history now.
—Thats the end I suppose.
I think I didn’t get it right. May be the next one I can. Hope so. May be lesser charecters and a focussed plot required. Anyway this plot not worth the short story genre. Though heard few Science Fiction short stories to be just 3-4 lines. Amazing. Next one using same keywords a fantasy children story…hmm possible. <!– D(["mb"," Anyway me blogging afternquite some time. Exams and shifting and all came. But after few daysnjoining job. Then no time for such stuff. I know should have startednearlier.nn
Anyway me blogging after quite some time. So I can be excused.
One happy shappy pic from the meetup (courtesy: Pratyush)
beingdesh 
